


Katherina: Sweet and Subservient

by tinypurplefishes



Category: Taming of the Shrew - Shakespeare
Genre: Drama, POV First Person, Poetry, Prose Poem, Revenge, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-19
Updated: 2015-09-19
Packaged: 2018-04-21 11:37:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 565
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4827728
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tinypurplefishes/pseuds/tinypurplefishes
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Written for English class; The Taming of the Shrew. Katherina's thoughts after the end of the play c. post-Act 5.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Katherina: Sweet and Subservient

Ah, so it is! Dear and handsome Petrucio has  
Tamed the beast! Ne'er a more cunning intellect  
May been found, in all of Italia. He used nought  
But a sharp tongue and quick wit to defeat the  
Infamous Kate. Once a tempestuous beast,   
To be sure, but now a docile young bride, same  
As any true woman of now! Nay, better, even!  
What a gentlewoman, her submissive nature  
Is sure to be envied. For who else could place   
A single, delicate hand under her master's boot,  
Her Lord's boot, with a smile in her eyes and  
Gratitude in her heart? Ha! Surely they jest?  
For who but a fool could expect a servant  
In a wife? Well, Katherina, it seems every man  
Demands this! Is that so? Indeed! Well I  
Shall not stand for this, I will not stand for this!  
They tell us to blush and simper, they tell  
Us to kiss their boots and obey their every whim.  
They demand love and in return, what do we get?  
Nothing, methinks. Nothing. Nothing but the  
Expectation of subservience. No matter the  
Idiocy we are presented with, we must stay   
Silent. Of course the Shrew, when handsome  
Petrucio came to beg her favour, she would  
Be the exception. For what would a Shrew do  
But return witticisms in kind? Petrucio calls  
Day and night, or night and day as he would  
Contend, to harass his beloved Kate with his  
Honeyed words. But are gentle deceits not intended  
To entrap the simple? Perhaps dear Petrucio  
Has forgotten…I am not simple, not a pretty  
Face and an empty mind, but a cunning beast!  
The Shrew of Padua. The clever Kate waits  
Under her pretty guise, pauses 'til the brute of   
Verona turns its back. Then she will strike.  
Then I will strike. For, the brute had forgotten   
the claws, hadn’t he? Did he not tear those from   
The Shrew? Nay, for all his intellect, the brute  
Remains a brute. And this brute, loving Petrucio,   
Will be the victim of its Bride, sweet servant Kate,   
And revenge will be had. Alas, I must wait.  
For now I will play the sweet, doting bride.  
Petrucio and Katherina, a marriage for the ages,   
They will say! For who could compare? Surely not   
The liar Lucentio and his conquest Bianca.   
Nor hesitant Hortensio and his wealthy Widow.  
Such a title, the 'Widow'! May it foretell what is   
To come? Perhaps Hortensio is to beware of   
His widow, I hear 'tis a title that does so persist.  
And dear Bianca. Such a simple young thing,   
Taken in by secret promises whispered in what  
Is named love, but I know to be infatuation. Perhaps  
My strength will be their strength? Sweet Bianca  
And the dear Widow will see, Katherina does  
Not need her Lord, in fact I say she has defeated  
Him! No more is she a slave to what men call  
'Obligation', when they are not deserved.   
The Shrew is not tamed, and nor am I, they shout!   
Ah, but perhaps they will remain as they always have.  
They will see my revolution as rebellion and I  
Will be persecuted, as ever. For some are created  
To slave. But not I. Not Katherina. Dear husband  
Will not see this in his playbook. His board of  
Manipulations. The queen turns to the stagnant  
King, she knocks him down and takes her place.


End file.
